Consumer Reports Gives Love To Tesla; So Does 'The Bachelor'

Another evaluation in Consumer Reports magazine has Tesla aficionados applauding at the same time that the company puts more distance between itself and those nasty reports of under-hood fires last fall. And ABC's The Bachelor is making the brand look good, too.

The bible of American automotive evaluation practically gushed all over Tesla again in a new report that shows a survey perception of the brand in a new survey has climbed to No. 5 in the industry overall even though Elon Musk's startup still offers only one vehicle, the $70,000 Model S.

Last year, of course, the magazine found Tesla as the best car it ever had tested when Model S owners gave the vehicle 99 points out of 100 possible in a survey.

Throughout January, viewers of The Bachelor have seen Tesla in the ultimate product-placement exercise for a plaything of the beautiful, rich and famous.

Protagonist Juan Pablo Galavis has been seen squiring around various suitors in a Model S, zipping throughout photogenic Southern California with no apparent range anxiety. It may be that most Bachelor watchers have no idea what the car is -- or would rather pay attention to Galavis -- but it was a nice coup nonetheless for the upstart EV maker.

In the new evaluation in Consumer Reports, Tesla out-polled
Mercedes-Benz to nab the top spot for a luxury brand and trailed only traditional-brand stalwarts Toyota, Ford, Honda and Chevrolet. Tesla was next followed by Subaru and then Mercedes. Worst overall was Land Rover, barely bettered by Maserati and Jaguar.

Also important to Model S is that it continue to avoid another type of "surprise": under-hood fires like the three last year that whacked its stock value and prompted a federal-government investigation. A good sign for Tesla is that no more fires have been reported.

The U.S. highway-safety agency may yet untrack Tesla when investigation results are revealed. But for now, American consumers, Consumer Reports, and maybe The Bachelor viewers are liking the brand more and more.